Directional Risk Strategy Guide

📋 Overview

Directional Risk Strategy allows you to adjust lot sizes and enable/disable orders based on trade direction (BUY vs SELL). This is useful when you have a market bias or want to trade only one direction.

Key Concept: Instead of equal lot sizes for BUY and SELL, you can risk more on BUYs (bullish bias) or more on SELLs (bearish bias), or trade only one direction.

⚙️ Settings Explained

1. DirectionalRiskPreset

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_DISABLED | PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE | 
                        PRESET_BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_BUY_ONLY |
                        PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE | PRESET_SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE |
                        PRESET_SELL_ONLY | PRESET_BALANCED | PRESET_CUSTOM

🎯 Preset Configurations

PRESET_DISABLED (Default)

Buy:  100% risk (normal)
Sell: 100% risk (normal)

  • No directional bias

  • Standard risk management applies

  • Use when: No market opinion, trade both directions equally

PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE

Buy:  150% risk (1.5x multiplier)
Sell: 100% risk (normal)

Example:

  • Base risk: 1% per trade

  • BUY signal: EA risks 1.5%

  • SELL signal: EA risks 1%

Use when:

  • Bullish market trend

  • You expect more profit from BUY trades

  • Want larger positions on BUYs

Real Example:

Signal: EURUSD BUY, SL 50 pips
Balance: $10,000
Base Risk: 1% = $100

Normal lot: 0.20 lot
With PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE: 0.30 lot (50% larger)

PRESET_BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE

Buy:  200% risk (2x multiplier)
Sell: 100% risk (normal)

Example:

  • Base risk: 1%

  • BUY trades: 2% risk (double)

  • SELL trades: 1% risk (normal)

Use when:

  • Very strong bullish conviction

  • Most signals are expected to be profitable BUYs

  • ⚠️ Higher risk - use carefully!

PRESET_BUY_ONLY

Buy:  100% risk (normal)
Sell: DISABLED (orders blocked)

What happens:

  • BUY signals: Opens normally

  • SELL signals: Completely ignored/skipped

  • EA logs: "Sell orders are disabled by directional risk preset"

Use when:

  • Only want to trade long positions

  • Strong bullish bias

  • Bearish signals historically unprofitable

Example Scenario:

Signal 1: XAUUSD BUY → ✅ Opens order
Signal 2: EURUSD SELL → ⚠️ Skipped
Signal 3: GBPUSD BUY → ✅ Opens order

PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE

Buy:  100% risk (normal)
Sell: 150% risk (1.5x multiplier)

Use when:

  • Bearish market trend

  • Expect better performance from SELL trades

  • Want larger short positions

PRESET_SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE

Buy:  100% risk (normal)
Sell: 200% risk (2x multiplier)

Use when:

  • Very strong bearish conviction

  • Most profitable signals expected to be SELLs

PRESET_SELL_ONLY

Buy:  DISABLED (orders blocked)
Sell: 100% risk (normal)

What happens:

  • BUY signals: Completely ignored

  • SELL signals: Opens normally

Use when:

  • Only want short positions

  • Strong bearish bias

  • Long signals historically unprofitable

PRESET_BALANCED

Buy:  100% risk
Sell: 100% risk

  • Same as PRESET_DISABLED

  • Explicit equal treatment

  • Use for clarity in configuration

PRESET_CUSTOM

Allows you to set your own multipliers

🔧 Custom Multipliers (PRESET_CUSTOM only)

When DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_CUSTOM, you can set:

BuyMultiplier

BuyMultiplier = 1.0  // 1.0 = normal, 1.5 = +50%, 2.0 = double, 0.5 = half

Examples:

  • 1.0 = Normal BUY risk

  • 1.3 = 30% more risk on BUYs

  • 0.7 = 30% less risk on BUYs

  • 2.5 = 2.5x risk on BUYs (very aggressive!)

  • 0 = Disable BUY orders

SellMultiplier

SellMultiplier = 1.0

Same logic as BuyMultiplier but for SELL orders.

BuyMaxLot

BuyMaxLot = 0  // 0 = use global LotMax

  • Set maximum lot size specifically for BUY orders

  • Overrides global LotMax for BUYs

  • 0 = uses global setting

Example:

LotMax = 0.50  // Global max
BuyMaxLot = 0.80  // BUY orders can go up to 0.80
SellMaxLot = 0.30  // SELL orders limited to 0.30

SellMaxLot

SellMaxLot = 0

Maximum lot size for SELL orders.

📊 Real-World Examples

Example 1: Bullish Gold Trader

Scenario: Trading XAUUSD, believe gold will go up long-term.

Configuration:

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE
MaxRiskPerTrade = 1%

Results:

Signal: XAUUSD BUY, SL 50 pips
→ Opens with 1.5% risk (0.30 lot if calculated)

Signal: XAUUSD SELL, SL 50 pips
→ Opens with 1% risk (0.20 lot if calculated)

Outcome: More profit potential from BUY trades you believe in.

Example 2: Only Sell EURUSD

Scenario: ECB dovish, USD strong, only want short EUR.

Configuration:

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_SELL_ONLY

Results:

Signal: EURUSD SELL → ✅ Executes
Signal: EURUSD BUY → ⚠️ Blocked (logged as "Buy orders disabled")
Signal: EURUSD SELL → ✅ Executes

Example 3: Custom Asymmetric Risk

Scenario: Want 2x risk on BUYs, 0.5x risk on SELLs.

Configuration:

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_CUSTOM
BuyMultiplier = 2.0
SellMultiplier = 0.5
BuyMaxLot = 1.0
SellMaxLot = 0.20

Results:

Base risk: 1%

BUY signal:
- Risk: 2% (doubled)
- Max lot: 1.0

SELL signal:
- Risk: 0.5% (halved)
- Max lot: 0.20

Example 4: Moderate Directional Bias

Scenario: Slightly bullish but still want to trade both directions.

Configuration:

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_CUSTOM
BuyMultiplier = 1.3  // 30% more on BUYs
SellMultiplier = 0.8  // 20% less on SELLs

Result: Subtle bias without extreme positions.

Example 5: Testing One Direction

Scenario: Want to backtest BUY-only strategy.

Configuration:

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_ONLY

Benefit:

  • Clean backtest of long-only strategy

  • No need to manually filter signals

  • Can compare vs SELL_ONLY and BALANCED

💡 Strategy Ideas

1. Trend Following

During uptrend:

PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE or PRESET_BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE

During downtrend:

PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE or PRESET_SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE

2. Carry Trade

For currency pairs where you earn swap on longs:

PRESET_BUY_ONLY or BuyMultiplier = 1.5, SellMultiplier = 0.5

3. Index Trading

Stock indices tend to go up long-term:

PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE

Short-term trading during crashes:

PRESET_SELL_ONLY

4. Commodity Bias

Gold (bullish long-term):

PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE

Oil (volatile, short opportunities):

PRESET_BALANCED or PRESET_SELL_AGGRESSIVE

5. News-Based

Before positive news (ECB rate cut expected):

PRESET_SELL_ONLY on EURUSD

After news (if trend reverses):

Switch to PRESET_BUY_ONLY

⚠️ Important Warnings

❌ Don't Use Without Reason

Bad:

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_ONLY
Reason: "I just like BUYs"

Good:

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_ONLY
Reason: "Strong uptrend on 4H/Daily, fundamentals bullish"

❌ Don't Forget to Switch

  • Market conditions change!

  • Uptrend → Downtrend: Change from BUY_AGGRESSIVE to SELL_AGGRESSIVE

  • Set calendar reminders to review settings weekly

❌ Multipliers > 2.0 Are Dangerous

BuyMultiplier = 3.0  // 3x risk = VERY risky!

  • Can blow account quickly

  • Only use > 2.0 if you have very strong conviction

  • Prefer 1.0-1.5 range for safety

❌ Testing Required

  • Always backtest new directional settings

  • Run on demo for 2-4 weeks

  • Verify performance before live

🎯 Best Practices

✅ 1. Start with PRESET_DISABLED

  • Get comfortable with standard trading first

  • Add directional bias only after consistent results

✅ 2. Use Moderate Multipliers

Good: 1.3 - 1.5
Risky: 2.0 - 2.5
Dangerous: > 3.0

✅ 3. Align with Higher Timeframes

  • Daily/Weekly uptrend → BUY_AGGRESSIVE

  • Daily/Weekly downtrend → SELL_AGGRESSIVE

✅ 4. Combine with Filters

DirectionalRiskPreset = PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE
+ ListSymbol = "XAUUSD"  // Only on Gold

✅ 5. Document Your Bias

Keep notes:

Date: 2024-10-28
Setting: PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE
Reason: Fed dovish, expect USD weakness
Review Date: 2024-11-15

🔍 How EA Logs Directional Decisions

When you enable directional risk, EA will log:

========== DIRECTIONAL RISK CONFIGURATION ==========
Preset: PRESET_BUY_AGGRESSIVE
Buy Orders: ENABLED (Multiplier: 1.5x)
Sell Orders: ENABLED (Multiplier: 1x)
=====================================================

When order is blocked:

Buy orders are disabled by directional risk preset

When multiplier is applied:

Base risk: 1.0%
Direction: BUY
Applied multiplier: 1.5x
Final risk: 1.5%
Calculated lot: 0.30

📊 Performance Comparison

Test Results (Example - Your results may vary)

Symbol: XAUUSD Period: 3 months Signals: 100 total (50 BUY, 50 SELL)

Preset
Profit
Drawdown
Win Rate

DISABLED

+15%

-8%

55%

BUY_AGGRESSIVE

+22%

-12%

58% BUY, 52% SELL

BUY_ONLY

+18%

-10%

58%

SELL_ONLY

+8%

-6%

52%

Conclusion: BUY_AGGRESSIVE was most profitable but with higher drawdown.

💼 When to Use Each Preset

Market Condition
Recommended Preset

Strong uptrend

BUY_AGGRESSIVE or BUY_VERY_AGGRESSIVE

Strong downtrend

SELL_AGGRESSIVE or SELL_VERY_AGGRESSIVE

Sideways/Ranging

BALANCED or DISABLED

Bullish fundamentals

BUY_AGGRESSIVE

Bearish fundamentals

SELL_AGGRESSIVE

Testing strategy

BUY_ONLY or SELL_ONLY

No clear bias

DISABLED

🚀 Quick Start Guide

Step 1: Analyze Market

  • Check trend on Daily/Weekly

  • Review fundamentals

  • Identify bias (bullish/bearish/neutral)

Step 2: Choose Preset

Strong bias → AGGRESSIVE or VERY_AGGRESSIVE
Moderate bias → CUSTOM (1.3-1.5 multiplier)
No bias → DISABLED
Testing → _ONLY presets

Step 3: Monitor & Adjust

  • Review results weekly

  • Adjust if market changes

  • Document reasons for changes

📞 Support

Common Questions:

Q: Can I change preset during live trading? A: Yes, but EA restart required. Close positions first for clean state.

Q: What if I set BuyMultiplier = 0? A: Same as BUY_ONLY preset - BUY orders disabled.

Q: Does this affect pending orders? A: Yes, all order types (market, limit, stop) affected equally.

Q: Can I use different settings per symbol? A: Not directly. Use separate EA instances or file config feature.

Remember: Directional bias should be based on analysis, not gut feeling! 📈📉

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